1. Field
Embodiments relate generally to the field of mobile devices, particularly to the presentation of information using a mobile device.
2. Background
The emergence and development of mobile computing devices allows users to access pertinent information from almost anywhere, without needing to be bound to a specific geographic location. Such users can use these devices to view relevant data while, for example, traveling from one physical location to another. This is particularly advantageous in a business environment, where mobile devices continue to become prevalent. Many business users from diverse occupations rely on the devices to access data in the field. Some subset of the universe of data is commonly downloaded, or synchronized, to these mobile devices for viewing in the field.
While the small size of mobile device aids in portability, the size may also prove to be a hindrance for some users and applications, particularly for enterprise mobile users who need to view large amounts of data in the field. Such enterprise users may have difficulty viewing the data on the limited screen space of a mobile device. For example, the user may have trouble navigating a list of data items that may be too long to fit on a single screen. In addition, data items within the list may be too small for the user to read.
To aid users in viewing data items on a display screen, fisheye viewing techniques have been developed in which an item selected to be the focus is displayed in full size while other items are reduced in different degrees of size according to their distance from the item of focus. However, traditional fisheye viewing techniques suffer from several limitations for viewing large data sets on mobile devices, which preclude them from being commercially viable solutions for mobile users.
One limitation associated with traditional fisheye techniques is that they are applicable only to short lists, such as menus. Traditional techniques make it difficult for users to browse large data lists that may extend beyond the current viewing area of a mobile device screen. Such a limitation make traditional techniques inapplicable to applications that need to display long data lists on small display screens (e.g. mobile devices). Another limitation is that most data items displayed using traditional fisheye techniques are too minimal in size to provide any meaningful information to the user. Consequently, displaying such items amounts to wasting valuable screen space.
Thus, users need a capability to view and quickly navigate a long list of data using a mobile device. Further, application developers need a new fisheye-based mechanism to display a large amount of data on a mobile device display screen or other small display that also provides meaningful information to users.